Prelude to a Punch
by girl undone
Summary: In a prequel to 'The Beginning of a Beautiful Rebound', Commander Rachel Shepard and Garrus Vakarian look forward to a date on the Citadel until St. Commander Kaidan Alenko inopportunely appears. Rated for strong language and inter-species dating.


A/N: Special thanks to my beta, EternityEmbracer, who puts up with my many, many missing words. These sentences would not scan if she didn't read them first! This is a prequel to 'T_he Beginning of a Beautiful Rebound_'.

* * *

"I have nothing to wear." Commander Rachel Shepard announced to her closet. The Collector base was destroyed and no one was left behind. The ship had limped back to Omega for repairs, but as soon as it able was to manage the jump through a mass relay, Shepard insisted they dock at the Citadel. She wanted to share her findings with Anderson and the rest of the Council and give her crew a proper, much needed shore leave.

"Perhaps you could borrow proper attire from Miss Lawson, Commander," EDI chimed in.

Shepard narrowed her eyes at the glowing blue orb. "That was one of your new jokes, right?"

"No, Commander. It was a suggestion."

Sometimes Shepard completely understood Tali's vocal dissent of having an AI on board. "Nothing she has would fit anyway," she muttered under her breath.

"Miss Lawson is indeed smaller than you in many areas."

"G-d in heaven, does everyone at Cerberus know my size?" Shepard crossed her arms across her chest self-consciously. She wasn't one to flaunt her figure like Miranda. It might be 2185, but humanity had thousands of years of sexism under its belt. Surviving in the Alliance meant wearing some hideous minimising shapewear underneath the very binding under-armour.

EDI replied calmly, "The Illusive Man wished to have you returned just the way you were. Such measurements were needed. There is also an extranet website run by a Mr. Conrad Verner-"

Shepard lurched forward, waving her hand at EDI's glowing blue orb. "For G-d's sake! I don't want to know! Just... shut down, EDI." She nearly gagged at the thought._ Ugh, I should have shot him when I had the chance._

"Logging you out, Shepard."

Shepard shook herself. She was not going to think about the fact The Illusive Man and his creepy cybernetic blue eyes saw her naked on multiple occasions. Or an extranet site probably loaded with badly modded pictures of her face on a Fornax's pinup's body. She was going to find something appropriate to wear on a date.

She sat on the edge of her bed and buried her head in her hands. Date. Ugh. The last time she had been on a date was before she assigned to the original _Normandy_. He wanted to hear stories of her time on Akuze and she ended up getting smashed. Only it didn't end with a Northern lad holding back her hair. She distinctly remembered puking on the fellow marine's shoes when he tried to kiss her. After that, well, it had been a lot of... encounters. She didn't think it spoke too well of her supposedly high morals. But then, she hardly ever applied those kinds of morals to herself.

_If only Garrus said where we were going. But no, he has to be all mysterious about it, then grin like an idiot. I wish I could tell him I hate surprises. Oh G-d, why can't anyone on this damned ship dress normally?_

She looked back up into her closet. She never wore any of the Cerberus uniforms, instead opting for what she mocking referred to as the 'burlap hooker costume' which most female colonists in the Terminus systems wore. She thought it was too revealing, but at least it didn't have that awful orange patch on it.

Something black caught her eye as it shimmered oh-so-slightly from the soft blue light of her fish tank that illuminated her quarters.

Shepard stood up. _Well, it _did_ fit_. Since apparently everyone in the entire galaxy knew her measurements, Kasumi had this waiting for her before they crashed Donovan Hock's seedy party. She had even bought her under-garments that wouldn't be seen underneath. The combination of being presented with a new dress and lacy underwear by a woman she never met unnerved Shepard completely and she refused to get into new ensemble until they were in the Kodiak. There was no way in hell she was walking through CIC in that thing.

Still. It was the only dress she currently owned. And the bra didn't resemble a torture device from the Earth's Middle Ages. She had no problem walking in the heels. Just because she didn't wear them daily didn't mean her legs weren't toned from running across the Terminus Systems for the past endless months.

It would still require she walk through CIC in that dress, though. She groaned again. _Wipe out the Blue Suns? Easy. Stop a crashing ship? Sure thing. Destroy the Collectors Base? On it. Deal with her crew cat-calling her in a leather mini dress and heels? Screw Project Lazarus. Maybe being spaced wasn't as bad I remember it._

Shepard sighed yet again. The truth of the matter was, there was nothing to be done for it. Their funds were cut off from Cerberus and she spend the majority of what they had repairing the ship. She couldn't exactly run out and go shopping, as much as the idea appealed to her. She wasn't afraid to admit she liked having something nice to wear. She might be a N7 Marine, the Sole Survivor of Akuze, and the Savior of the Citadel, but she was still a woman, dammit. She was going on a date and she wanted to look pretty. It wasn't so much to ask. Was it?

_Right, so, inappropriately sexy underwear purchased or stolen for me by a thief. Check. Inappropriate leather mini dress purchased or stolen for me by a thief. Check. Matching shoes? Check. Hideously modern silver necklace and earrings that came with the ensemble? No, leave them aside. Gorgeous quarian shawl Tali gave me as a present after she got her acquitted of treason and was free to return to the flotilla? Check. Well, there's nothing to do but take a shower and slap on some face paint._

_

* * *

_

Shepard inspected her reflection in her tiny, tiny bathroom. All her Lazarus Project scars had healed on their own and she no longer glowed in the dark. Perhaps her smoky eye makeup was a little too smoky. She fiddled with the smudge brush a few more times. There. Some neutral lipstick. Either heavy eye or heavy lip, never both. Especially in black leather. It would be pretty mortifying if C-Sec tried to arrest her for solicitation.

She patted her hair, surveying it from as many angles as she could. She left it curly. He said he liked that way. She saw a grin creeping onto her face in the mirror. Sometimes it was nice to be admired for more than her skill with deadly weapons.

She exited the bathroom feeling deliciously light and... _happy_. It wasn't often she could use that word to describe herself. She grabbed the shawl she left on her bed and pushed the console to open her door, then hesitated. Did she really want to walk through the mess to the main battery and through CIC? She wished she told Garrus to meet her up here. Still, there was nothing to be done for it. She took a deep breath hit the call button for the lift.

Her face broke out into a grin when it arrived with a certain ex-C-Sec officer inside, wearing his set of civilian clothes. Apparently they could all use a good clothes shopping. "You read my mind. Looking stylish, Officer Vakarian." She said in _that_ tone.

Garrus took in the sight of Commander Rachel Shepard for a long moment before he replied, "I would say the same, but I believe the term you humans would use in this case is 'ravishing'."

Her grin grew wider. "Ah, you always pick words with double meanings." She stepped closer to him, blocking the lift doors and, for all intents and purposes, commandeering the lift. She leaned against the frame, cocked her brow, and dropped her voice to husky tones." Unless, of course, you want to skip the date and ravish me instead."

G-d, she loved when he moved like that- so fast, so lithe, like she was literally swept off her feet. She found herself in his arms, her back against the elevator's furthermost wall. She sighed as his rough tongue scraped her neck; her hands reached for his waist-

He grabbed them, removing his warm body from hers. She made a sound of protest. "I will. After our date."

Shepard groaned in frustration. "You can't do that to _that_ to me and just stop. It's cruel and unusual. I bet it goes against peace treaties between our species."

Garrus laughed, mandibles flaring at he tapped the lift's console for level 2. "I don't think they considered it."

Shepard mock-glared at him. "I'll bring it up to the Council with the evidence we found at the Collectors Base."

Garrus laughed louder at this suggestion. "You just want to see the look on your Ambassador Udina's face if you told him we were, well..." He trailed off, embarrassed.

"Shagging blissfully and occasionally saving the galaxy?" Rachel Shepard suggested coyly.

Garrus turned to look at her. Damn, this lift was as slow as the ones on the Citadel. "Rachel, you know how I feel about you. But do you really want to risk your-"

She interrupted him, arms crossed, careful of her precious shawl. "My ruined career with the Alliance? My defection from Cerberus? And Udina is not _my_ ambassador! It's not like I had a choice in making him represent humanity. At least I had some say with Councilor Anderson." Her voice softened. "Garrus, you know I feel about _you_. I don't give a damn what anyone thinks." She hesitated, then said, "But if you're so worried, maybe this isn't such a good idea, going out on the Citadel. I mean, you haven't.." She looked down and rubbed the back of her neck. "You haven't told your father yet, right?"

Garrus looked down as well, shuffling his weight uncomfortably. "Well, no, not yet." He looked up to see her still staring at the floor of the lift. He lifted her chin gently so she would look at him. "I will, though. As soon as you want me to."

Rachel's mouth quirked in a soft smile. She put her hand over his. "I know you two aren't on the best terms. I just think it might be better if he heard it from you and not Westerlund News."

Garrus groaned at the thought and, as if on cue, the elevators doors opened to the thankfully, mostly empty, CIC. "Yeah, I hear you. I'll write to him tonight."

Since Kelly was getting ready for shore-leave and away from her usual post, Shepard made a show of checking her personal terminal. She whispered to Garrus, "Tonight? I thought you were going to be busy tonight, Officer Vakarian."

He was careful, since they were in public, not to be too obvious. He just ran a talon over her bare arm, watching her shiver in response. "Tomorrow afternoon then."

She looked up quickly, brows arched, her 'mail' forgotten. "Tomorrow afternoon? I guess it's going to be another tiebreaker, huh?"

His mandibles flared wide. "If I have any say in it."

She laughed, grabbing his hand, wondering how fast she could run through CIC without being noticed. "I'll see to it."

Of course, Joker wouldn't leave his pilot's chair, not even on the first night of shore-leave. "Hey, Garrus, you're letting her go out like that?" He made a show of horror on his face.

Shepard groaned. "Jeff..." she began warningly.

"Why, what's wrong with it?" Garrus looked Shepard over again. The few human navigators still aboard seemed to be agape with their Commander's appearance. Perhaps this wasn't such a good thing.

"It's so short! And sleeveless! And low cut!"

"And this from someone with illegal extranet bookmarks and three copies of the same issue of Krogasm!" Rachel Shepard retorted.

"Oh, Commander, that's just mean. It's only two."

Garrus knew Rachel and Joker were constantly teasing one and other, but now he wasn't so sure. She did look so much... curvier than usual. "Well, you does have the shawl. Maybe you should get a coat?"

Shepard made a frustrated noise. "EDI, tell Garrus I look perfectly suitable for dinner and that Mr. Moreau is being an ass."

"Is that a command, Commander?"

Commander Rachel Shepard grinned. "Indeed it is." She leaned over and tweaked Joker's cap as EDI repeated Shepard's words verbatim. "You're such a jerk. Why aren't you going to the Dark Star or something?"

Joker looked almost as insulted as Garrus did from EDI's 'reprimand'. "I'd never leave my baby alone on a cold, dark, night like this!"

Shepard shook her head. "You're insane. Have fun with your 'baby', Joker. C'mon, Garrus."

"Yeah, you too, Commander!"

He received a high, short "HAH!" in response.

* * *

Shepard laced her arm through Garrus', just outside the Normandy's airlock. She squinted for a moment, her eyes adjusting to the millions of bright, colourful lights that shone out of the five arms of the Citadel "So are you going to tell me where we're going?"

Garrus shook his head. "Not after you ordered EDI to tell me you looked fine."

"It was a joke!" she protested in earnest.

His mandibles twitched as he tried to smother a grin. "Yeah, I know."

She gave him a playful nudge in the thorax. "You're an ass sometimes, too."

"And you love me anyway."

"It's one of my great failings in life," she agreed with a grin mirroring his own.

She leaned her head against his shoulder, still admiring the view of the Citadel. Quiet for a moment, then:

"So will you tell me where we're going now?"

"You have the patience of a pyjack."

"And you love me anyway," she repeated his words back to him.

He pressed his forehead against hers. "Katz's Deli. They opened one in the Upper Wards. You said you loved-"

He winced at the noise of excitement she made. It was possibly the highest squeak he had ever heard issue from any life form "Oh, Garrus, are you serious?" She drew back, actually covering her hands with her mouth, looking for all the world like an asari maiden in a bad romance vid. It was astonishing to see. Nevertheless, he had never seen her look so purely happy, so he nodded, rather pleased with himself and grinned lopsidedly. His cybernetic mandible didn't allow for such wide grins.

She hugged him, pressing her forehead back to his. "I'd kiss you if you'd enjoy it. But I promise to make up for later." Her hand slyly slide up under his fringe. He made an appreciative noise. They were still grinning at each other, but their eyes were darkening. He was about to suggest they head off when a familiar voice cut into their silence.

"Shepard? Shepard! Garrus...?"

Garrus never grew bored of watching human facial expressions. They were so easy to read, even when they tried to hide it. Not that the human's face he was staring into was trying to hide anything. It went from 'happy, playful, flirting' to 'oh fucking shit' in an instant. He was pretty sure he had a similar look on his face. The formerly happy couple turned in unison to a very familiar figure in Alliance dress blues.

Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko.

Commander Rachel Shepard sucked in a breath, trying to disquiet the flurry of emotions writhing in her body. She kept her arm firmly laced with Garrus', who, for his part, was standing ramrod-straight with an impassive, unreadable expression on his face. Neither of them moved. They simply waited for the former lieutenant to walk over.

Or run, as the case may be.

"Shepard! I- we all heard that you went through the Omega-4 Relay and back! No one's ever done that before!"

_Always stating the obvious, Alenko_, Rachel thought. She closed her eyes for the briefest moment too long and assumed her public speaking voice. "Yes, _we_ did," she replied tersely, stressing 'we'. What she did was a team effort. She wasn't the only one who risked her life.

"But it's amazing! How did you make it back?"

"Upgrades." She couldn't have sounded less eager to carry on this conversation than she was to see exotic elcor dancers.

Kaidan finally blinked at her tone. He reached up to push a hand through his carefully styled hair. He was silent as he took in her appearance. Her hair was curly. _When did that happen? _She wearing a dress. _Since when does she wear dresses? And why is she hanging onto Garrus? And why isn't he in armour? _"Hey, are you all right, Shepard? You never answered my email and you're leaning on..." He trailed off. No, she wasn't leaning on him for medical support. She was leaning _into_ him, in skimpy leather dress, with curly hair, and full makeup, and one of those shawls she was always complimenting Tali on...

"Oh." Kaidan finally managed to say.

Shepard felt her self-control splintering like thin ice. "Right. Now you know. Would you please excuse us, Staff Commander?"

He confessed his love to her, despite the fact she lied to him about being dead, despite the fact she worked for a terrorist organisation, and now she was going to throw all in his face by ignoring his apology, his offer of reconcilisation, and carry on with- with-

"How could you! I _loved_ you!"

She crossed the space between them in an instant. It didn't matter that she was in a dress, in heels, with make up. She was Commander Shepard and she was jabbing a finger into his chest. "How dare you! How dare you say that then and how dare you say that now! You never loved me, Kaidan! How could you? You never _knew_ me!" And then she said the most bizarre thing, "You always thought I had straight hair!"

He couldn't look at Garrus; he could barely look at her. He couldn't concentrate on what she was saying. "I thought we had something special. I thought-"

"You thought wrong!" She tucked a curl behind her ear with a hard yank and sighed. He looked so forlorn. She felt guilt-ridden for using him, but angry that he didn't realise it. "Look, Kaidan, I'm sorry. I never wanted to give you a reason to think that way. I thought you would have moved on. I thought you'd understand when I didn't reply. "

"So you used me?" he shot back, willing his biotics not to flare. "Is that it? You just used me and now you've moved on to _him_?" He pointed a finger at Garrus, who continued his stony glare. He was doing his damnedest not to growl at Kaidan; to let Shepard handle this on her own.

Shepard looked down briefly. Her head was beginning to throb. She pulled the shawl closer around herself, defensively, but met his eyes. Her words were meant to be gentle, but her tone was not. "I'm not using him, Kaidan. We're-"

He couldn't stand to hear any more. "No! You know what? I'm sorry! I'm sorry that you use people like this, Shepard. I thought you were better than that. But to use me and then..." He was still trying to wrap his mind around it. His beautiful, fierce warrior with her shiny, straight hair. _When did it become curly? How? What happened to her in those years she played dead? _"I don't understand you, Shepard! You're the first human Spectre, the Sole Survivor of Akuze, the Savior of the Citadel! You're the best humanity has to offer!"

Her breath was coming ragged, her rage was practically radiating off her body. "What does that even _mean_, Kaidan? That I should remain on a pedestal like a forgotten virgin goddess? That I can't find my own happiness? That I should settle for _you_?" She was goading him on and she knew it, but found she couldn't stop herself. Her hands twitched, itching for a fight. Her focus narrowed as though she were facing an opponent on the battlefield. She heard Garrus saying something, most likely something to her, to calm her down, but she didn't hear the words.

Kaidan never considered himself a xenophobe. He got along with everyone on the crew on the original _Normandy_ with the possible exception of Liara, but certainly not because she was an asari. Still, he could see Vyrnnus purposely breaking Rahna's arm. He remembered Saren trying to strangle Shepard on Virmire, and then shooting at her endlessly in the Battle of the Citadel. Even his reanimated corpse tried to murder her. Vyrnnus was a turian. Saren was a turian. Garrus was a turian. They were all turians who betrayed him and the women he swore to protect. The two women he allowed himself to love. Their alien faces merged into one as his brain connected the same three beliefs together, as if on loop: turians, betrayal, love gone wrong. His prided self-control failed. Blue sparks danced off his fingertips when he retorted hotly, "I can't believe you'd fuck a _turian_!"

And those were the last words out of Staff Commander Alenko's mouth before Commander Rachel Shepard's bare fist slammed into his face.


End file.
